I’m all about quick and easy, and this Easy Mixed Rice and Beans recipe is definitely that. This recipe is one that I just dumped together in the matter of a few minutes thanks to my new interest in getting plenty of THM:E meals into my diet. Healthy carb-centered breakfasts are easy to figure out (hello, chocolate oatmeal!), but lunches can be a little more difficult for me. That’s why I like to have something on hand that I can just grab whenever I need, and these rice and beans fit the bill. I like to cook dry beans with seasonings in the Crock-pot all day for a super budget-friendly meal, but in this case I wanted convenience above all else so I chose canned beans. This cuts down on the seasonings needed and makes mixing this recipe together a snap. But stay tuned – I have a black bean stew made with dried beans that I want to share with you one of these days.

I didn’t even cook this recipe when I made it – just dumped everything together, stirred it up, and put it in the fridge. Some days I ate the rice and beans cold, some days I warmed it up, some days I ate it by itself, some days in a wrap. Over a salad would be a great option, too! It keeps in the fridge for a few days, but I don’t recommend keeping it for longer than a week because beans spoil pretty quickly in my experience (and they smell horrific!). If you don’t think you’ll be able to eat this much right away, freeze some for later.

Since I was going for convenient, I used dried minced onion instead of chopping fresh, but you’re welcome to add fresh onion. I did use fresh cilantro in this recipe because it’s easy to find in any grocery store (in South Carolina, that is) and the flavor of fresh is just so much better than dried. That pop of green in my mouth…can’t beat it. This recipe doesn’t take any ingredients that can’t be found at your local grocery store except for the THM Super Sweet Blend, which I used to round out the flavors. If you don’t have it, just omit it or use a sprinkle of your favorite low-glycemic sweetener.

Because it is centered around healthy carbs and doesn’t include any significant fat sources, this recipe is a THM:E recipe. Divide the recipe into 12-14 servings and you’ll stay within the 45g net carb limit, no problem (and I included some wiggle room so you can eat your serving on a low-carb tortilla if you like). The beans are your protein source.

As always, check out the Notes section of the recipe for extra info. Check out the links in and below the recipe to see the products I use and recommend. Some of the links included in the recipe and blog post are affiliate links, which means that if you make purchases through these links, I make a small commission to help defray the costs of running this blog (at no extra charge to you). Thanks for your help!

THM:E, low fat, gluten/egg/dairy/nut free if using non-contaminated ingredients | I stir all the ingredients together cold and refrigerate to use for lunches throughout the week. There's no need to cook it unless you want to eat it hot. I like it hot or cold. NOTE: I do not suggest keeping this in the fridge for more than a week as beans tend to spoil.

Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl. (Add the entire contents of the bean cans, juice and all.) I like to refrigerate the rice and beans overnight for best flavor, but if you want to use it for dinner, heating it up and simmering for 15 minutes will suffice. Heat leftovers or serve cold; it's good both ways!

Feel free to top with low-fat sour cream and salsa.

Notes

*Most grocery stores carry fresh cilantro year-round, and I like to keep it on hand at all times. You can use 1-2 tsp. dried cilantro in a pinch, but it's just not the same.**Feel free to chop some onion in place of the dried minced onion. (I'd probably use half a fresh onion, chopped.) I was going for convenient. But not so convenient that I didn't take time to snip some fresh cilantro. Pick your battles, folks.

I actually really like the flavor of the spices in the canned chili beans, so I don’t recommend substituting. 🙂 If you decide to substitute red beans or black beans, I would use the juice and all, then add a little extra chili powder.

Hi Sarah! I don’t recommend substituting for the beans because they’re the protein source in this recipe. 🙂 You could use another kind of bean and just add some extra chili powder and other spices for flavor.